Mile News

Aidan Tooker’s journey to a sub-4 minute Mile

Syracuse athlete believes the sub-4 Mile is symbolic of the progress he’s made: “I just stopped being scared of it, on that day I realized I either do it or I don’t.”

By Alex Hamer, The Daily Orange

As Aidan Tooker rounded into the final 200 meters of the Mile, his eyes glanced up to where they’d been for much of the race: the clock. It was against his better judgement, but he couldn’t help himself. The clock read 3:30, and Tooker knew all he needed to do was break 30 seconds on his final lap to join the elusive sub-4 minute Mile club.

When Tooker sprinted across the finish line, he immediately looked for his name on the scoreboard to see if he’d done it. The three runners who had finished ahead of him popped up on the board, but Tooker’s name was nowhere to be found.

“I literally stood on the side of the track not celebrating anything just watching the board,” Tooker said. “I’ve been there before where it had been close and not happened.”

Tooker’s time popped up: 3:59.39. Tooker, his parents and Jay Navin, Tooker’s mentor and former-Northeastern runner, celebrated the career milestone in the center of the track.

At the Boston University John Thomas Terrier Classic on Jan. 26, Tooker became just the fifth Syracuse runner to achieve a sub-4 Mile, joining Justyn Knight, Joel Hubbard, Martin Hehir and Adam Palamar in the sub-4 club (#526 American). While Syracuse’s goal is to win during the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship this Thursday through Saturday, Tooker’s personal achievement represented the next step in the junior’s development.

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